4. The insect world

Breathe in slowly through your nose… Smell and guess… Do you know what plants they are? You’re not the only one who comes here to enjoy the fragrance, your competitors are real experts! These are insects, butterflies in particular. The flowery prairie you are passing through is enriched by native plant varieties that attract the colourful flight of butterflies. Two insect houses are home to crickets, mantises, stick insects, bees, beetles and other extravagant insects. Maybe you’ll see some of these tiny residents take flight as you approach. Bees particularly appreciate prairie flowers; they explore the local landscape, travelling up to 3 kilometres from the garden! They look for pollen everywhere: in fields, orchards, forests and grasslands, but also in gardens, cities and towns… After foraging, the bees share their daily harvest and information that will help other gatherers find the source. Since the grassland is never turned or sown, it reflects the character of the soil, in accordance with climate and altitude. These grasslands are not only important for the beautiful flowers that can be found, they are an important food resource and habitat for biodiversity. The presence of a variety of plants attracts large numbers of insects and pollinators that are essential for life, and thus for agriculture and our food! Insects play a very important ecological role. Creating a flowering prairie takes time, nature’s time. Because it is not planted, it is created over a number of years by installing naturally adapted plants in the soil. In our garden, the prairie is only mowed once a year, in late summer, to give the plants time to flower and reproduce. Water is provided by the rainwater cistern at the top of the garden. You have reached the end of the garden tour, you can either try to find the exit of the rosemary maze on your left or continue straight on to the next stop.

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